some new ubotu factoids useful in #ubuntu-server

Soren Hansen soren at ubuntu.com
Tue Nov 27 16:02:06 UTC 2007


On Tue, Nov 27, 2007 at 08:48:00AM -0700, Neal McBurnett wrote:
> Here (finally :-) for your review are some proposals for new ubotu
> factoids for use in #ubuntu-server, as promissed in the server
> roadmap.

W00t! Thanks for looking into this!

>  * mta is an abbreviation for Mail Transfer Agent.  postfix is the
>  default MTA for Ubuntu, and exim is also officially supported.  See
>  also "mua" and "mda".

I think it would be useful to have this one specify how it differs from
an mda. (i.e. the prime purpose of an MTA is to take your mail and send
it elsewhere, while the mda's prime purpose is to deliver local mail
(and possibly filter into different mailboxes)).

>  * mda is an abbreviation for Mail Delivery Agent. dovecot is the
>  default MDA for Ubuntu, and it can deliver mail via imap and pop.

I don't believe this is correct. The MDA is the compontent that delivers
mail to the local users (i.e. takes the mail from the smtp server and
shoves it into mbox, Maildir or whatever). Dovecot does indeed include
an mda, but it's separate from its imap and pop capabilites. Postfix
works as a simple mda (this is our default), but can be told to use
procmail or dovecot-lda (or whatever it's called nowadays).

I wouldn't mind if dovecot's lda was our default mda, though. It takes
care of updating dovecot's indices when the mail is actually delivered
rather than at some random time later when dovecot feels like it.

> There are a few more on the roadmap but this is a good start.

It looks great. I wouldn't mind if you just added them. Changing them
after the fact is a lightweight process, afaik.

-- 
Soren Hansen
Ubuntu Server Team
http://www.ubuntu.com/
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